What is a CCR?

Read this report to learn more about the water provided by Santa Ana and what the City is doing to ensure the highest quality of water is delivered to you year after year.  

The following questions and answers, numbers 1 through 7, will explain the important elements of the data tables and more. 

1. Where does Santa Ana get its water?

The City of Santa Ana relies on two sources for the 12.5 billion gallons of water we supply each year.

Groundwater—70% is groundwater, which accumulates and is stored beneath the surface of the earth and then pumped to the surface by 20 city-owned wells. 

Imported—30% is imported water purchased from Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (MWD). MWD is a regional wholesaler that provides water for 26 member public agencies like Santa Ana throughout Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego and Ventura counties. MWD brings Colorado River water from Lake Havasu through the 242-mile Colorado River Aqueduct. It also transports water from Northern California via the State Water Project’s 444-mile California Aqueduct. The water is then treated at either the Diemer Filtration Plant in Yorba Linda or the Weymouth Water Treatment Plant in the City of La Verne before it is delivered to Santa Ana. There are seven MWD connections located in Santa Ana.  

Most of our customers receive a blending of these two sources. You can read about the water quality standards for each of these sources in the data tables. We have listed groundwater and imported water in separate tables. An additional table lists  the water quality standards for Santa Ana’s water distribution system. 

2. What’s in my drinking water? 

Your tap water may contain different types of chemicals (organic and inorganic), microscopic organisms (e.g., bacteria, algae, viruses) and radioactive materials (radionuclides), many of which are naturally occurring. Health agencies require  monitoring for these constituents or substances, because at certain levels they could make a person sick. 

3. What are the maximum allowed levels for constituents in drinking water?

Health agencies have maximum contaminant levels (MCL) for constituents so that drinking water is safe and looks, tastes and smells good. A few constituents have the letters “TT” (Treatment Technique) in the MCL column because they do not have a numerical MCL. Instead, they have certain treatment requirements that have to be met. One of the constituents, total chlorine residual, has an MRDL (maximum residual disinfection level) instead of an MCL. 

The MRDL is the maximum level of a disinfectant added for water treatment that is allowed in water. While disinfectants are necessary to kill harmful microbes, drinking water regulations protect against too much disinfectant being added. Another constituent, turbidity, has a requirement that 95 percent of the measurements taken must be below a certain number. Turbidity is a measure of the cloudiness of the water.  We monitor it because it is a good indicator of the efficiency of the filtration system. 

4. Why are some of the constituents listed in the section labeled “Primary Standards” and others in the “Secondary Standards”?  

Constituents that are grouped in the “Primary Standards” section may be unhealthy at certain levels. Constituents that are grouped under the “Secondary Standards” section can affect the appearance, taste and smell of water, but do not affect the safety of the water unless they also have a primary standard. Some constituents (e.g., aluminum) have two different MCLs, one for health-related impacts, and another for non-health-related impacts. 

5. How do I know how much of a constituent is in my water and if it is at a safe level? 

With a few exceptions, if the average amount of a constituent found in tap water over the course of a year is no greater than the MCL, then the regulatory requirements are considered to be satisfied. The highest and lowest levels measured over a year are shown in the range. Requirements for safety, appearance, taste and smell are based on the average levels recorded and not the range. 

6. How do constituents get into our water supply? 

Drinking water (tap water and bottled water) comes from rivers, lakes, streams, ponds, reservoirs, springs, and wells. As  water travels over the surface of the land or through the ground, it dissolves naturally occurring minerals and, in some cases, radioactive material, and can pick up substances resulting from the presence of animals or human activity. Contaminants  that may be present in source water include: 

• Microbial contaminants,  such as viruses and bacteria that may come from sewage treatment plants, septic systems, agricultural livestock operations, and wildlife. 
• Inorganic contaminants,  such as salts and metals, that can be naturally occurring or result from urban stormwater runoff, industrial or domestic wastewater  discharges, oil and gas production, mining or farming. 
• Pesticides and herbicides  that may come from a variety of sources such as agriculture, urban stormwater runoff, and residential uses. 
• Organic chemical contaminants,  including synthetic and volatile organic chemicals that are byproducts of industrial processes and petroleum production, and can also come from gas stations, urban stormwater runoff, agricultural application and septic systems. 
• Radioactive contaminants  that can be naturally occurring or be the result of oil and gas production and mining activities. 

7. Are there any potential sources of contamination in our system? 

Groundwater— An assessment of the drinking water wells for the City of Santa  Ana was completed in December 2017. Santa Ana’s wells are considered most vulnerable to historic agricultural activities, golf courses, and application of fertilizers, which are associated with contaminants  detected in the water supply. Our wells are also considered most vulnerable to chemical/ petroleum pipelines, chemical/ petroleum processing/ stores, dry cleaners, gas stations, junk/ scrap/salvage yards,  metal plating/finishing/ fabrication, plastics/ synthetics producers, and sewer collection systems, although constituents associated  with these activities were not detected. 

Imported Water— Every five years, MWD is required by the Division of Drinking Water (DDW) to examine possible sources of drinking water contamination in its State  Water Project and Colorado River source waters. MWD submitted to DDW its most recent Watershed Sanitary Surveys:  the Colorado River Watershed Sanitary Survey-2015 Update and the State Water Project Watershed Sanitary Survey-2011  Update. You can request a copy of the most recent Watershed Sanitary Surveys  by calling MWD at 213-217-6000.